Soma Underground Training Pit Project, Social responsibility project by Demir Export AŞ, a Koç Holding company, the Celal Bayar University (CBU) and the Vehbi Koç Foundation .
The training pit project was developed in the wake of the mining disaster of May 13, 2014, when a fire followed by the flooding of the tunnel caused the death of 301 miners in Soma, Manisa. Aiming to train experienced and technically qualified miners, the training pit opened in the land allocated on the CBU Soma Vocational College grounds in 2015. Equipped with tools and materials used in working pits, its objective is to train students in the relevant departments of the college, novice miners and other workers who are about to take up jobs in mines.
Among the principal aims of the project are improving the knowledge and skill sets of mine workers on essential safety procedures in mines, best practice and an awareness of safety at work at all times.